Fireball Ministry
Fireball Ministry is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1997. History Conceived in Cincinnati in the late 1990s by James A. Rota II and Emily Burton, the band moved to New York City before settling in Los Angeles. In 2000 they performed at the two-day "November Dismember" metal-music festival in San Bernardino California, playing on the second day. The festival was situated at the National Orange Show fairgrounds in two hangars. After several years appearing with various big name bands in the genre (Danzig, Anthrax, Motörhead, Slayer) but without a breakthrough in album sales they have polished their own sound to continue gaining a wider following. The tracks "King" and "Flatline" appeared in the big wave surfing documentary Billabong Odyssey (2003). The track "King" was also selected by Bam Margera and appeared on his Viva La Bands compilation. The band teamed up with Bam's brother Jess Margera when they toured Europe with CKY in 2004. The track "The Broken" was included in the WWE video game WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 for the PlayStation 2. The band went through four different bass players, starting with Helen Storer, who played on the Où Est la Rock? CD and was replaced by Fu Manchu bassist Brad Davis on FMEP, who was himself replaced by former L7 bass player Janis Tanaka on The Second Great Awakening. Former Systematic 4-stringer Johny Chow then took the place of Tanaka for the Their Rock Is Not Our Rock album, which was recorded at Dave Grohl's 606 West studio and like their previous works was produced by genre legend Nick Raskulinecz. In another connection helped by Margera they supported CKY on their 2005 Adio Footwear-sponsored tour, having already opened for them on their UK Tour in 2004. Original drummer John Oreshnick took a leave of absence due to family issues in the Fall of 2006 to be replaced by Yael during their recent tour. Yael and Johny Chow were former bandmates in My Ruin. Yael subsequently left the band in Winter 2006, and Oreshnick rejoined. Rota considered becoming an ordained minister, but was persuaded not to on account of possible legal and taxation issues. However, he did eventually become ordained and performed wedding ceremonies for Matt Deis of CKY and Erica Beckmann in November 2005, and Bam Margera and Melissa Rothstein in February 2007. In an interview for blabbermouth.net in May 2007, James Rota stated that "we (Fireball Ministry) are in the stages of writing a new album". In the same Interview, Rota also referred to what would later become The Company Band EP, Sign Here, Here and Here. On 14 June 2008, Rota stated that three tracks had been recorded for the as yet unnamed fifth Fireball Ministry album, and was also working on a full length Company Band Album and a third, unspecified project to be announced by the end of 2008. However, Johny Chow was on tour playing bass guitar with Cavalera Conspiracy and Stone Sour. The band released their fifth album Remember The Story on October 6th 2017 via Cleopatra Records. Discography Studio Albums *'Où Est la Rock?' (1999, Bong Load Records) *'The Second Great Awakening' (2003, Nuclear Blast) *'Their Rock Is Not Our Rock' (2005, Liquor and Poker Music) *'Fireball Ministry' (2010, Restriced Release) *'Remember the Story' (2017, Cleopatra Records) Other Releases *'Fireball Ministry' (Demo) (1998, Self-Released) *'Fatso Jetson / Fireball Ministry' (Split 7" with Fatso Jetson) (1999, Cattleprod Recordings) *'FMEP' (EP / Compilation) (2001, Small Stone Records) *'Back on Earth' (Digital Single) (2017, Cleopatra Records) Personel Current Members *'James A. Rota II' - Guitar, Vocals (1997 - Present) *'Emily Burton' - Guitar (1997 - Present) *'John Oreshnick' - Drums (1997 - Present) *'Scott Reeder' - Bass (2014 - Present) Former Members *'Helen Storer' - Bass (1999 - 2001, 2018) *'Brad Davis' - Bass (2001 - 2002) *'Janis Tanaka' - Bass (2002 - 2004) *'Johny Chow' - Bass (2004 - 2014) *'Yael' - Live Drums (2006) *'Brad Prescott' - Mandolin (2016) List of Known Tours *'Summer Tour 2001' (2001)/ Fireball Ministry Official via Wayback Machine *'2003 West Coast Tour' (With Puny Human) (2003)/ Fireball Ministry Official via Wayback Machine *'2003 Germany Tour' (With Blue Oyster Cult, Uriah Heep) (2003)/ Fireball Ministry Official via Wayback Machine *'The Second Great Awakening UK Tour' (2004)/ Fireball Ministry via Wayback Machine *'2004 North American Tour' (With Andrew W.K., The Locust, No Motiv)/ Fireball Ministry via Wayback Machine *'2004 Germany Tour' (2004)/ Fireball Ministry Official via Wayback Machine *'Master of The Moon North American Tour' (With Dio, Anthrax) (2004)/ Fireball Ministry Official via Wayback Machine *'The Rock Adio Tour' (With CKY, The Knives) (2005)Blabbermouth *'Ghost Reveries North American Tour' (With Opeth, Pelican, Nevermore) (2005)Blabbermouth *'November 2005 Tour' (With CKY) (2005)Blabbermouth *'Viva La Bands' (With H.I.M., Finch, Skindred) (2005)Blabbermouth *'December 2005 Holiday Tour' (With Clutch) (2005)Blabbermouth *'2006 Spring North American Tour' (With Disturbed) (2006)Blabbermouth *'August 2006 Mini-Tour' (With Alice Cooper) (2006)Blabbermouth *2006 UK Tour (Canceled) (2006)Blabbermouth *'The Triple Threat' (With Artimus Pyledriver, Veils of Jenna) (2006)Blabbermouth *'2011 Mini-Tour' (With Rob Zombie) (2011)Fireball Ministry Official *'California Ghost Rush Tour' (With Red Fang) (2017)Fireball Ministry Official *'Clutch Spring Tour 2018' (With Clutch, Red Fang, The Bronx) (2018)Fireball Ministry Official *'2018 UK Tour' (With Corrosion of Conformity, Orange Goblin, Black Moth) (2018)Fireball Ministry Official *'2019 European Shows' (2019) External Links Official Links *Official Website Archival Links */ Archived Page circa 2000 *Archived Official Page circa 2004 *Sitting out Tour *Van Accident References Category:Band Category:Stub Category:Heavy Metal Category:Hard Rock Category:Stoner Metal Category:Cincinnati Category:Ohio Category:Los Angeles Category:California Category:USA Category:Fireball Ministry Category:Scott Reeder Category:Small Stone Records Category:Nuclear Blast Records Category:Bong Load Records Category:1997